In the past week or so, few people on this site found themselves talking about football, when before that’s what we did for 99% of the time. In the past week it’s either been Covid-19, or their favourite albums of all time.
While I retain a deep desire to see Liverpool crowned champions, I can’t quite bring myself to think about it unless someone is saying the league should be null and voided.
Equally, right now I don’t care if Sadio Mané joins Real Madrid, or Liverpool sign Lionel Messi to play him as goalkeeper; just so long as it doesn’t interfere with the end to 2019/20, whenever that should be. In addition, I don’t see how clubs can even be budgeting for transfers right now, with the finances of the game in such a mess over the coronavirus; especially if the players still haven’t taken a wage cut whilst the clubs themselves haemorrhage money over the collapse of match-day income and the risk to sponsorship and television money (and no one even knows when the next season will start, and in what format it will take). While I’m looking forward to the resumption of the football, when it’s safe to do so, I currently have no interest in transfer talk. (That said, if you feel you need the distraction, go for it; we need all the escapism we can get, as long as we’re not putting others at risk.)
With all this in mind I decided to join the music-listers by compiling my own favourite 100 albums, which I planned to post with the other on the Off Topic thread, with a few words of explanation. Then those words of explanation turned into an essay. And rather than purely focus on my favourite albums, it morphed into a more general story of my love of music, with some anecdotes along the way; and then, into the deeply personal connections that music has given me, and the solace it brings, and the times, good and bad, that it has soundtracked.
While we will continue to bring you football analysis on TTT, and I continue to work on my book for the 2019/20 season, I also accept that there are more important things right now, and it’s not easy digesting high quality articles like El Indio’s stunning piece from last week, which we’ve now made a free read for those who can still find the brain power.
For this week, as someone noted, TTT has turned into the NME. Music is easier to understand at a time like this, when we need the connection it gives us.
This non-football essay is for subscribers only.
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